Three Letters Re: List of Countries by Real Population Density

Jim-

Dr. Hugh asked the question about population density in the US States.  Below is the answer. Since I couldn’t finagle Wolfram Alpha to do this in people per square kilometer, I did it in square miles.

For reference:

If you convert Dr. Hugh’s figure of 245 people per square kilometer to people per square mile and that equates to 634.5 people per square mile

Keeping that number in mind, I used this Wolfram Alpha equation, and learned:

Rank State Pop. Density
1 New Jersey 1,185 people/mi^2
2 Rhode Island 1,007 people/mi^2
3 Massachusetts 835.2 people/mi^2
4 Connecticut 737.7 people/mi^2
5 Maryland 590.7 people/mi^2
6 Delaware 459.6 people/mi^2
7 New York 410.4 people/mi^2
8 Florida 348.6 people/mi^2
9 Pennsylvania 283.4 people/mi^2
10 Ohio 281.7 people/mi^2
11 California 238.9 people/mi^2
12

Illinois

 230.8 people/mi^2
13

Hawaii

 211.8 people/mi^2
14

Virginia

 202.1 people/mi^2
15

North Carolina

 195.8 people/mi^2
16

Indiana

 180.8 people/mi^2
17 Michigan 174 people/mi^2
18

Georgia

 167.3 people/mi^2
19

Tennessee

 154 people/mi^2
20

South Carolina

 153.6 people/mi^2
21

New Hampshire

 146.8 people/mi^2
22

Kentucky:

 109.2 people/mi^2
23

Wisconsin

 104.7 people/mi^2
24

Louisiana

 104.1 people/mi^2
25

Washington

 101.1 people/mi^2
26 Texas 96.05 people/mi^2
27 Alabama

 94.19 people/mi^2
28 Missouri 86.94 people/mi^2
29 West Virginia

 76.96 people/mi^2
30 Vermont

 67.65 people/mi^2
31 Minnesota

 66.62 people/mi^2
32 Mississippi

 63.26 people/mi^2
33 Arizona 56.25 people/mi^2
34

Arkansas

 56 people/mi^2
35

Oklahoma

 54.63 people/mi^2
36

Iowa

 54.53 people/mi^2
37

Colorado

 48.49 people/mi^2
38

Maine

 43.04 people/mi^2
39

Oregon

 39.91 people/mi^2
40

Kansas

 34.87 people/mi^2
41

Utah

 33.65 people/mi^2
42 Nevada 24.59 people/mi^2
43

Nebraska

 23.76 people/mi^2
44

Idaho

 18.94 people/mi^2
45

New Mexico

 16.97 people/mi^2
46

South Dakota

 10.73 people/mi^2
47

North Dakota

 9.75 people/mi^2
48

Montana

 6.79 people/mi^2
49

Wyoming

 5.80 people/mi^2
50 Alaska 1.24 people/mi^2

[JWR Adds: Readers might want to compare that table with the 19 states in my rankings of states, by retreat potential. BTW, the preceding table is so useful that I’ve added it to my Retreat Areas static page.]

 

James Wesley:
Checking the writer’s conclusions, I found: 

In 1955, Japan had a population of 90,077,000.  Assuming that their amount of arable land was the same in 1955 as it is today, 43,620 square kilometers, then the population density is 2,065 persons per square kilometer or about 8.4 persons per acre.  This assumes that Japan was not importing any food at this time. 

In 1955, the population of China was 610,465,000.  Assuming that their amount of arable land was the same in 1955 as it is today, 1,385,905 square kilometers, The population density is 440 persons per square kilometer or about 1.8 persons per acre.  This assumes that China was not importing any food at this time. 

China and Japan do not have European or US climates and they do not have Western diets but the broad assumption that the land can support about 1 person per acre may not be true world-wide.  – Richard J.

 

Jim & Family:

I studied soils in school, as part of my Geology degree. I also studied Hydrology. Both aspects have a huge impact on soil fertility and thus carrying capacity. While I respect the basic effort involved in the carrying capacity list, its missing those crucial details. The reason that France and California and the Midwest have such amazing fertility and crop yields is they have the ideal balance of water and soil types. You can’t say the same for many places which merely offer numbers which look good on the surface.

The ugly truth is the best places to grow food have the highest population density, as a rule. They will be fought over, should push come to shove. California is routinely fought over for water rights in the courts, and in bribes to authorize those rights or transfer them to the “right” person (holding the bribe). The book “Cadillac Desert” describes this well and is worth reading if you want to understand the Western States, Water Rights, land grabs, and dam building.

Generally speaking, Western Europe, south of the serious frost/snow areas of Scandinavia (which lacks good soil thanks to the glaciers carving it away), is the place in the EU for best rainfall, for soil fertility, and for best crop yields. Largely: France and Spain. The UK goes up and down that scale due to excessive summer rains killing crops with molds and pests. They can have great years. But they can also have terrible years. France is more consistent. Morocco tends to lack the better rains and dam sites so its often too little water. Spain varies due to rainfall like England, only to getting to little rather than too much.

Of all the places on Earth with the best combinations of rain and sun, the USA [is the largest single region that] has the best, period. The USA is the swing producer of food for the planet. It is what will back our currency once the oil is mostly traded in Yuan/Renminbi.

Its up to us to insure that moral and ethical men and women govern our nation. I am sure it seems like a very distant goal, considering modern times, but we must persevere.   Sincerely, – InyoKern

Economics and Investing:

Along The Watchtower reports on the COMEX‘s severe shortage of physical silver for delivery, amid strong open interest (OI) for March contracts: Wow! If a higher than normal percentage of buyers demand delivery, then the market will implode. There is already short squeeze in progress. The COMEX governors are likely to resort to drastically raising margin requirements to near 100% in an attempt to cool the market. (As precedent, they did this back during the Hunt Brothers silver short squeeze, three decades ago. Silver was then approaching $50 per ounce, and the COMEX hit the brakes hard.) A repeat of that sort of draconian manipulation could briefly slam the price of silver down to around $22 per ounce. (If that occurs, look at it as a great buying opportunity.) They might also at some time restrict delivery, forcing buyers to accept cash instead of the physical silver commitment that they bought. The latter move will surely create pandemonium in the spot market, with silver likely to then spike above $55 per ounce.

A recent piece in The Daily Bell: Jay Taylor on Inflation Versus Deflation, the Possibility of a Gold Standard and Why the West is Failing.

Loyal news link contributor Sue C. flagged this: States That Ignored Warnings on Unemployment Insurance Face Reckoning.

Items from The Economatrix:

Forget Gold: Why Investors are Targeting Guns. [JWR Adds: Here in the U.S. my two most-strongly recommended modern guns for investment are the Steyr AUG-A3 (production just ceased after only a short run of a few thousand guns by Steyr USA), and the Saiga 12 gauge semi-auto shotgun (a strong candidate for a pending importation ban). The law of supply and demand is inescapable, so buy them soon!]

Lost Dollars (The Mogambo Guru)  

Many Riots in Arab Countries; Silver Explodes  

Inflation Makes a Comeback as Prices Rise for Food, Fuel 

Short Squeeze In Silver!  Could Be the Big One:  John Rubino  

Philly Fed Index Hits Seven-Year High as Inflation Builds   

Bill Changes Florida’s Unemployment Benefit System  

Inflation Watch:

Reader C.D.V. mentioned this: Inflation: It’s Here. “This is an important topic because with an expanding money supply, one would expect to see price inflation, yet the official statistics reveal no substantial price increases. And that begs the question: Why not?”

Deutsche Bank on the Imminent Inflationary Outbreak in America. (Thanks to G.G. for the link.)

Why Are Food Prices Going Crazy?

Cotton hits $2 a pound Cotton values surge owing to increased demand

Following Beijing’s lead, news from Taipei: Prosecutors Office vows to crack down on food hoarding. (Hmmm… Could it be that double-digit inflation is on the horizon?)

Odds ‘n Sods:

A major failure in family OPSEC, up in Canada: Chilliwack man shaken after home invaders take $750,000 in silver. It doesn’t rhyme, but remember: Loose Lips Invite Home Invaders!

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Ol’ Remus mentioned a useful web site that will calculate the magnetic declination for most locales. Since the magnetic north pole has been shifting rapidly in the past 20 years do not trust the declination diagram that is printed at the bottom of your handy-dandy USGS or Ordnance Survey map, even if the map is just a few years old. It is most likely out of date!

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Another one of Bloomberg’s corrupt and criminal mayors resigns. Mayor Adam Bradley is just the latest in a long string of disgraced mayors! There are an astonishing number of mayors in the Mayors Against Illegal Guns (MAIG) cabal that have been forced to resign from office, after being convicted of criminal charges. For the sake of accuracy, I believe that the organization ought to be re-named: Corrupt and Criminal Democrat Mayors Against All Guns Not Owned By The Government Or By Very Special People (CACDMAAGNOBTGOBVSP).

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Decentralizing the Internet So Big Brother Can’t Find You

Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 33 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize: A.) A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses. (Excluding those restricted for military or government teams.) Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795, and B.) Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees, in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $392 value.) C.) A 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $275 value), D.) A 250 round case of 12 Gauge Hornady TAP FPD 2-3/4″ OO buckshot ammo, courtesy of Sunflower Ammo (a $240 value), and E.) An M17 medical kit from JRH Enterprises (a $179.95 value).

Second Prize: A.) A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol. It is a $439 value courtesy of Next Level Training. B.) A “grab bag” of preparedness gear and books from Jim’s Amazing Secret Bunker of Redundant Redundancy (JASBORR) with a retail value of at least $300, C.) A $250 gift card from Emergency Essentials, and D.) two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value).

Third Prize: A.) A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21. (This filter system is a $275 value.) , and B.) Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy. This is a $185 retail value.

Round 33 ends on March 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that articles that relate practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

Thoughts on Medical Training For TEOTWAWKI, by Lumberjack

Many people both on this blog and elsewhere in the prepping community have advocated some form of professional medical training prior to encountering a disaster situation.  While I agree with this sentiment, this article is meant to discuss the limits of some medical training for lay persons in a post-TEOTWAWKI scenario, as well as review the options and advantages of the various training programs available for lay people.  That my qualifications may be known, I am an emergency room RN, an EMT, and an instructor of the Wilderness First Responder and Advanced Wilderness Life Support curriculum, with experience in wildland fire and search and rescue.   

The biggest fallacy on this topic that I see routinely propagated is the notion of cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training for use in a post-TEOTWAWKI situation.  While I agree that more people should have this training, it is really useful only so long as the larger medical infrastructure is intact.  Let me explain: CPR stands for cardio-pulmonary resuscitation.  Think chest compressions and rescue breathing.  As things stand now, in a grid up world, CPR at best only buys time keeping the brain and vital organs alive until definitive care, in the form of defibrillation and advanced airway control and medications can be given and surgical stenting in some cases.  CPR is commonly used in cases of sudden cardiac arrest, with some effectiveness if definitive care is reached in a timely (less than 10 minutes) manner.  It is also used, with greater effectiveness in cases of drowning/near drowning and lightning strike.  These are the only instances when CPR can be expected to have any positive impact in a grid down situation, as cardiac arrest requires extensive medical infrastructure to complete the chain of survival.  CPR in cases of traumatic injury (gunshot, car crash, falls, etc) is virtually never successful.   

Not to take any thing away from CPR; if more people were trained and willing to step in and perform CPR when it is needed (patient is not breathing and has no pulse) today, when the grid is up, more people would survive sudden arrest and near drowning.  In a grid down situation, where there is no definitive care available, CPR has a virtually negligible effect on survival.  In cases where there are multiple casualties or hostile opponents attempting CPR only takes resources away from those who need them, either other patients or repulsing a hostile enemy.   

So if CPR is not the end all-be all of medical training for lay persons, what are our options?  I will review the most commonly available levels of training and their strengths, in a more or less ascending order.   First, basic first aid.  Commonly taught by the Red Cross in concert with a basic CPR course, these classes deal with stopping bleeding, dressing wounds, immediate treatment for choking patients, and recognizing more severe injury or illness that needs an ambulance.  This level should be considered the most basic level acceptable, in that it at least covers topics in addition to CPR such as bleeding control.  The class may be from 4-8 hours long, and is usually offered by the Red Cross several times per year for less than $100.  

Wilderness First Aid (WFA)

Next up the ladder would be a Wilderness First Aid (WFA) class.  In addition to the topics covered in a basic first aid course, WFA introduces topics such as immobilization and treatment of bone and joint injury, penetrating trauma, basic wound care, and environmental emergencies and prevention such as heat stroke, hypothermia, dehydration, and others.  This class is usually 18-24 hours long (a long weekend) and is taught well by schools such as the Wilderness Medicine Institute (WMI), SOLO, WMA, Northern Arizona University, and others.  With great respect to the Red Cross for the things they do well, I do not recommend their WFA course, as I feel it is too short and does not adequately cover the topics.  Cost may be from $120-$300.  

Next up the ladder would be something along the line of the Outdoor Emergency Course (OEC), commonly taught to and required of ski patrol.  Covering the same information as WFA but in greater depth and detail and with greater emphasis on cold injury, OEC approaches the level of Wilderness First Responder, covered next.  

Wilderness First Responder (WFR) 

My recommendation for all serious preppers, the Wilderness First Responder (WFR) class is commonly taught over 7-to-10 days (80 hours) and emphasizes hands on practice and improvisation and medical care in difficult and remote circumstances.  It covers immediate life saving treatment for all types of traumatic injury, medical emergencies and first aid for cardiac, stroke, diabetes, neurological problems, and more, as well as a great deal of time on preventing and treating environmental emergencies like dehydration, heat and cold injury, burns, lightning, altitude, animal bites, and more.  Emphasis is on judgment, application of skills to difficult and remote areas, and improvisation, as well as extended patient contact time.  This last is in contrast to many other training programs for lay people, which assume a short length of time in contact with the patient before handing off to EMS.  Some programs also teach scene management, helicopter interface, and mass casualty scenes and triage.  The same schools which teach WFA also teach WFR, and cost ranges from $400-700, and is worth every penny.  

EMT-Basic 

EMT-Basic (EMT-B). Usually 120 hours in most states, teaches the immediate treatment, stabilization, and transport of patients as part of a larger, intact functional medical system.  While this class places less emphasis on judgment and long term patient contact, it does go into greater depth of anatomy and physiology and pharmacology that does WFR, as well as covering obstetrical emergencies.  In rural areas you may have the cost of this class covered if you join your volunteer fire department.  Other wise local community colleges are the best place to find this training.    Wilderness EMT-B (WEMT) This class merely combines the curriculum of WFR and EMT, leading to state certification as an EMT-B and the knowledge and judgment of WFR.  Arguably the best of both worlds, this course is often taught over a one month period on location out in the woods or in a base camp somewhere.  Reputable schools include the WMI, Aerie, and Desert

Mountain Medicine 

Levels of medical training beyond this require more than 1 month or 1 semester of education, and commonly require field experience as well.  You can’t be a paramedic without first being an EMT.    For those with a background in medicine, but whose skills might not be useful in a wilderness or grid down situation, there are several “bridge” type classes available.  For people like dentists, nurses, paramedics, doctors, and others, classes like Advanced Wilderness Life Support take their current scope of practice and incorporate elements of improvisation and environmental emergencies.  Other similar courses include Wilderness Advanced Life Support and dedicated wilderness medicine expeditions taught by the WMI.   

Hopefully this information will help others decide what type of medical training is most appropriate for them.  Obviously my recommendation is WFA as a minimum for all preppers, WFR as the best most practical option, and WEMT for those who can afford the time and money or have a particular interest in the topic.  Perhaps in your retreat group of friends/family you have everyone as WFAs, several WFRs, and your medical team leader as a WEMT.  This has the added advantage of everyone speaking the same language of medicine and injury/illness prevention, which as we all know is better than any cure.  Lastly, the experience and knowledge of patient assessment and recognizing which patients have manageable problems at home with minimal resources and which problems represent true emergencies requiring specialized help will go a long way in any scenario, even with the grid up, preventing unnecessary trips to the ER and better informed, more productive (and perhaps fewer) trips to the doctor’s office.

Letter Re: List of Countries by Real Population Density

James,  
I love the work you are doing, keep it up!  I know since the early 1990s when we first communicated via e-mail I have turned hundreds of people on to your writing and your work and yours is still the most comprehensive and easiest to understand approach for newcomers to the prepping community.  

I really enjoyed the “Real Population Density” chart (List of countries by real population density (based on food growing capacity) link posted in your blog. But i would like to point out a couple of things that people need to keep in mind.  

The average size of a medieval peasant’s farm was five acres.  This supported an average sized family for back then – four or five people and lots of dead infants (from diseases).  

I know my direct ancestor who came to the colonies left a farm that was a grand total of ten acres in size.  And his family was considered rich, until Cromwell had the rest of those non-human Welsh/Catholics/minor nobility (three strikes against them) eliminated.  By then the youngest son (the cadet son) was in the Catholic colony of Maryland.  

The average sized family farm in the US through the late 1800s and into the early 1900s was around 40 acres.  Family sizes were larger because of sanitation advances. This was around double the size of the medieval family.  But the motive power was still human or animal just like in medieval times.  

So the medieval carrying capacity was around a person per arable acre of land.  The late 1800s saw this increase some but not much – larger farms but also a larger city population.  Part of the farm though was woodlot and pasture which was commons (village green, nobles forest land).  But roughly half of the 40 acres was farmed on average and while the standard of living had gone up you still had around one person per farmed acre as the supported population.  

If you consider (if my math is right) that each square kilometer is around 245 acres, this means that the sustainable carrying capacity of the land absent mechanization and GMO is 245 people per square kilometer if we assume a disaster that will eliminate the ability to use intensive modern farming techniques such as lots of petroleum derived fertilizers, large tractors, etc.  

That puts us down to country [rank] #192 on the list.  And if we eliminate the postage stamp countries we are left with the following list of countries as having (or still having) a sustainable carrying capacity in a late 1800s technological base.  (Note: I’ve eliminated the miscellaneous information in the middle. The column on the right shows the population density per square kilometer.) 

192 Romania 245
193 Denmark 244
194 Mongolia 241
195 Moldova 239
196 Sudan 234
198 Bulgaria 225
199 Togo 225
200 Turkmenistan 224
201 Central African Republic 219
202 Hungary 219
203 Zambia 215
204 Paraguay 214
205 United States 179
206 Belarus 177
207 Guyana 174
208 Ukraine 145
209 Argentina 144
211 Latvia 128
212 Lithuania 123
213  Russia 117
214 Niger   84
215 Canada 78
217 Kazakhstan 69
218 Australia 43

I would like to see somebody go through the same exercise with the United States, by state, and by population ranking. I am sure that the states that you have recommended (west of the Mississippi, sans California) are going to be the top ones on that list as well. – Dr. Hugh

Letter Re: Free Heirloom Seeds

Dear Mr. Rawles,
First again thanks and kudos for your interesting and illuminating blog. I would like to remind you and your readers about a web site that SurvivalBlog has mentioned before concerning seeds.

I checked the web site Wintersown.org and I sent them a [self-addressed] envelope with two ounces postage (by the way, they mention using two 44 cent stamps, but you only need one 44 cent stamp and one 23 cent stamp for the additional ounce). So, for about a dollar (including the stamp to send the [self-addressed] letter to them) here is what they sent to me:

  • Wildflower blend for full sun
  • Blue flax
  • Black Eyed Susan
  • Celery sedano da taglio
  • Evening primrose
  • Rocket larkspur
  • Blackberry lily
  • Oxheart tomato
  • Rapa da broccoletti
  • Feverfew

Now I understand most of these are flowers but where are you supposed to buy your sweetheart flowers after TEOTWAWKI? [JWR Adds: Just keep those seeds away from your livestock pastures. Many flowers are poisonous to sheep, goats, and cattle.]

Most importantly, they have a seed exchange so that like-minded individuals can share and exchange seeds.

I have found other Internet sites where people will exchange seeds just for the asking and there are also local clubs. I am looking forward to getting a variety of heirloom tomato grown here in Pittsburgh for generations. Local seed exchanges are the most valuable because you know that the seeds are going to do well in this climate.

So thanks again and God Bless You. – Mr. Bennington in Pittsburgh

Economics and Investing:

From Peak to Valley. Dr. Housing Bubble reports: Beverly Hills real estate selling for 1989 price levels. Home sold for $920,000 in June of 1989 and has a pending sale at $920,000 in 2011. [JWR Adds: So much for oft-touted “buy and hold” strategy! Oh, by the way, how much did the owner(s) of that house cumulatively pay in mortgage interest, property taxes and insurance, for those 22 years? Doubtless somewhere north of a million bucks. And how much has the purchasing power of the Dollar declined in those 22 years? So… Cui bono?]

J.B.G. sent this: Government Has Borrowed an Additional $29,660 Per Household Since Obama Signed Stimulus

Jeff in Virginia sent this: Banks told to stress-test for 11% jobless rate: report

Items from The Economatrix:

Silver Gains on Inflation Concerns and Tight Supply

Food/Financial Crisis of 2011  

How Much More Demand Can Silver Handle?  

Employers Rejecting Unemployed Job Applicants  

Drought In China Will Not Hit World Grain Prices

Milk Prices Going Up, China to Blame

Dow Notches Third Straight Week of Gains  

Gold Rises to Five-Week High, Physical Demand “Very Much” About Inflation And Low Interest Rates  

Odds ‘n Sods:

F.G. sent us a list of some regions not to live in: The 11 Most Dangerous Cities. Reading that list should make folks yearn to relocate to truly safe places.

   o o o

Mark Levin Goes Nuclear Over Obama Destroying the Country. (Our thanks to John R. for sending the link. This might be a good link to forward to your congrescritter’s office.)

   o o o

At Clinton Speech: Military and CIA Veteran Bloodied, Bruised and Arrested for Standing Silently. And how would have the JBTs reacted if fifty people in the audience had simultaneously done the same thing? I predict that quite soon, protestors will put social networking to use. I consider shunning–either walking out of a speech or just silently standing and turning your back on a politician–to be a worthy and entirely acceptable form of protest.

   o o o

Troy H. sent a link to a fascinating piece on the growth of conservative, Libertarian evangelical churches in the Inland Northwest.

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Fight by states over Obamacare takes wing: Idaho House steps between federal mandates and constituents

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“These six [things] doth the LORD hate: yea, seven [are] an abomination unto him:

A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,

An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief,

A false witness [that] speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.” – Proverbs 6:16-19 (KJV)

Notes from JWR:

A Beta Glitch. 🙁 We’ve discovered that some of the 47 beta testers of the SurvivalBlog 2005-2010 Archive CD-ROM may have been accidentally mailed blank CD-ROMs by the publisher. Yikes! If your v0.5 Beta CD-ROM was blank, then please e-mail our archival guru, and we will put you on the list to get a free replacement copy. Our apologies! We are hoping to have the Version 1.0 CD-ROM orderable by everyone on or before March 10th. Thanks for your patience.

—

Today we present another entry for Round 33 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize: A.) A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses. (Excluding those restricted for military or government teams.) Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795, and B.) Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees, in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $392 value.) C.) A 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $275 value), D.) A 250 round case of 12 Gauge Hornady TAP FPD 2-3/4″ OO buckshot ammo, courtesy of Sunflower Ammo (a $240 value), and E.) An M17 medical kit from JRH Enterprises (a $179.95 value).

Second Prize: A.) A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol. It is a $439 value courtesy of Next Level Training. B.) A “grab bag” of preparedness gear and books from Jim’s Amazing Secret Bunker of Redundant Redundancy (JASBORR) with a retail value of at least $300, C.) A $250 gift card from Emergency Essentials, and D.) two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value).

Third Prize: A.) A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21. (This filter system is a $275 value.) , and B.) Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy. This is a $185 retail value.

Round 33 ends on March 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that articles that relate practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

Review of the USSA Tactical Shotgun Course, by Bubba Man

Here is my review of the USSA Tactical Shotgun #220 course, conducted in December, 2010. I started out with about 850 rounds of #7 bird shot, 150 rounds of 9 pellet 00 Buck and 50 slugs. I should have brought more slugs as I wound up borrowing about 10 from one of the other students. When I was done, I had about 200 rounds of #7 birdshot and 50 rounds of 00 Buck and no slugs.

First let me get this out of the way; Those of you who know me, know that I am currently a fat, out-of-shape, somewhat crippled up, older man. This put me at a disadvantage against the performance of the other students. I was also using a inexpensive (read cheap) Chinese knock-off of a Remington 870 Express pump shotgun. One other student was using a pump (it was a Mossberg 590A1 that had been customized). All of the others, including the instructor, were using semi-automatic action shotguns of one type or another.

It was easy to see the difference in rate of fire and overall action between the pumps and the semi-auto guns. The semi-autos were out shooting the pumps at a rate of 3 to 2 or 4 to 2. Target reacquisition was also much faster on the semi-autos. So with all of this, I could not quite match the round count of the other students. I burned a tremendous amount of energy, just operating my weapon over the course of the training that greatly reduced my performance.

However, having said that, I consider the training to have been excellent. The instructor (Mike Seeklander) is a recognized champion in the Three Gun competition community and has a long career in law Enforcement and as a tactical trainer of Law Enforcement Officers. During the entire class he went out of his way to make sure that we understood the reasoning behind what he was teaching. He consistently stresses the importance of the “stay in the fight” mentality and how to cultivate it during training to help avoid the development of ‘range’ habits. A strong emphasis was placed on deliberate action during training to build the correct habits which are what we will fall back on under stress.

The classroom portion of the class was very short (2 hours out of about 24) and covered the basic admin and safety issues required for any firearms class. After which we retired to the range and began with zeroing our shotguns with slugs at 50 meters. The entire remaining portion of the class was practical hands-on shooting. This was done at a variety of ranges on differing types of targets.

One of the most challenging portions of the class was the final activity on the second day. We were taken to the Rogers Range, which has computerized pop-up reactive targets at close to medium range (I believe it runs from about 10 to about 30 meters) that can be computer programmed to pop-up in a random pattern, with between one (1) and six (6) targets popping up (this can been a real challenge when you have a 5 shot tube).

I do not recall the amount of time that the targets were up, but we had 10 seconds to reload between rounds.

At the beginning of the class, Mike told us that shotgun combat was a matter of “shoot and reload, shoot and reload”. The Roger’s Range exercise drove this home as nothing else in training could. During that exercise every deficiency that you or your equipment have will be clearly manifested. It was an extremely useful exercise. I fully intend to try and get the management to let me do that one on my own at the Rogers Range in the future after I improve my equipment. Another of the useful things in this class was the use of buckshot at different ranges against both paper and pepper-popper targets to help us get an idea of the spread and relative power of a load of buckshot at short and long ranges. Every one in the class decided after those exercises to include slugs in their basic load out.

The practical exercises included training on the differences between cover and concealment, effective use of the cover available in the battlespace you find yourself in, the value of preplanning the cover available in your usual areas and how to use a vehicle for effective cover.

Once again, very useful training. And for me specifically, knowing that even with the deficiencies that I currently have, I can perform these tasks.

On the final day of the class, we ran the ‘shoot house’, which was one of my personal ambitions. We were taught to use deliberate rather than dynamic movement techniques and to make maximum use of ‘cover, time and distance’. One interesting point about the shoot house exercise is that it will give you a new appreciation of the effects of stress on your mind and body during a gun fight. For me personally and for many people I know, that kind of a more realistic type of training environment seems to convince my body that we are doing the real thing and my limbic system behaves accordingly, with the adrenaline dump, the distortion of perceptions and the whole nine yards. This was the first time that I had personally experienced auditory exclusion. While everyone else’s shots were loud to the point of deafening, even with my electronic ear muffs, I could barely hear my own.

I did learn that [equipment] quality has a huge impact on usage. The majority of my problems during that class were related to the weapon operation problems that I experienced.

One last word on equipment; one of the students was using an optic (I believe it was a Trijicon RMR Dual Sight 9.0 MOA Amber Dot. He graciously allowed us each to try it and it was a tremendous aid in rapid target acquisition and getting a good shot off quickly. It is definitely something to think about. In summary, I found the class to be a valuable learning experience and a smashing good time. I look forward to taking it again some time in the future.

Letter Re: Preparedness on a Tight Budget

Mrs. R.J.,
I rejoice to read of your plans to prepare. It’s good to know you’re in Arkansas. The Christians at Ark Haven believe that is a protected area for many reasons, physical and spiritual.

Three generations on one piece of property is definitely getting back to the old ways. Two acres is great — focus on compact crops and animals; Jeavons lists crops by square foot yield and calorie count so you can be sure you’re getting the correct amount in his book “How To Grow More Vegetables” (read it free here). (And yes, it appears this free book is acceptable with copyright laws.) Each person can live on less than 5,000 square feet (perhaps less) so two acres ought to be plenty of food, with surplus to be charitable with, or to sell.

You said, “I have read many of the stories on SurvivalBlog but have yet to read a one from someone on a very tight budget” but I recall seeing several articles just this year on preparing with a tight budget. Use the Search box to check the blog archives, you might find what you’re looking for.

You said, “We want to add some how-to books to our library…” The following web sites have so many free books, it’s more than you can possibly read in the next year, perhaps in your lifetime:

A friend with high-speed internet and a thumb drive could bring them to you.

You said, “We are interested in special growing lights…” Before buying those, and using more electricity, consider an earth-sheltered greenhouse, which costs little to build and uses no electricity or gas, even in frigid northern Idaho. Also check out Eliot Coleman’s books from your library (or use inter-library loan); he is successful year-round in snowy Maine, using unheated greenhouses.

You said, “We (…) don’t know when or how we can add the grinders, expensive water filters or the solar power we will need.” Grinders: There are plans online for simple pipe-based grinders. I found this one. Water filters: Here’s a short article called “Five ways to purify water without fuel or purchased filters.” There are a sixth and seventh way in the comments under the article.

Solar power: Use less.  I believe our family could get by with just these rugged solar LED lanterns  at $15 each and perhaps a water pump. Those in poorer countries say that electricity is one of the easiest utilities to get rid of. But if you cannot get rid of it, then Sunelec has gotten costs down to almost $1 per watt. Even with low cost panels, rebates and incentives, I estimated that the payback rate was still seven years. There are other ways to save, such as raising animals (instead of buying meat).

See also the book: Preserving Food Without Freezing or Canning

I highly recommend you read about Permaculture. Permaculture’s emphasis is on letting God’s designs in nature do as much of the work as possible. It’s about working smarter, not harder, and once established most gardens take care of themselves without much costly input or labor. The best book I’ve found is “Gaia’s Garden, Second Edition: A Guide To Home-Scale Permaculture” Don’t let the name throw you (like it first did for me), it’s not new age earth worship; just solid advice.

Also learn about seed saving; it’s not as easy as it sounds, there are some technical details you should know.

You can grow some of your own herbal medicines. This is another field which New-Agers have taken over, but it need not be that way.

Consider learning about animal trapping and wild foraging; this knowledge would pay off quickly. Take some of the seeds from the wild plants for your garden; outsiders will believe you are growing weeds 🙂

You might consider building a survival community such as Ark Haven is trying to do. There’s strength in numbers, and you can bring in specialists (doctors, vets, carpenters, skilled shooters, etc.) who can round out the skills you’ll need to pull through.

Lastly, continue to bank on the promises of God. I like to recommend reading Matthew 6:19-34 out loud. It has a stronger emphasis when you read it aloud. Same with Habakkuk 3:17-19 and Nahum 1:7. It’s as though half of the Bible is written for times like these.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make straight paths. Be not wise in your own eyes but fear the Lord; turn away from evil.” – Proverbs 3:5-7

Sincerely, – C.D.V.